Curiosity Museum

Maximize and minimize the breadth of perception simultaneously, ebbing the obstructions of time and space, a maze without walls.

Academic | Graduation Studio Spring 2018

Location: Tripoli, Libya

Instructors : Dr. Mohamed Aburawi, Dr. Abdul-Jawad Ben Swessii

Prepared By: Razan F. Elmrayed

To this day we remain infinitely lost, groping our way in the labyrinth of existence, our knowledge base of worldly facts is fragmented, lost in time, confused in diversity, trapped in space. At the time that we uncover one truth of existence we are confronted with yet an imposing buildup of walls that obscure both former discoveries and prospective ones, this creates an ultimate defect to the breadth of comprehension that we conceive of a singular fact, unable to string the truths to form a whole pattern, we are limited by our centeredness to the duality of existential proportions, we sit halfway between the infinite vastness of the universe and the brevity of the microscopic existence, we’ll therefore constantly address the options of either extending up so tall penetrating the galaxies or to shrink down to face the microscopic world, our knowledge will repeatedly bare the same biased deficiency if we continue to proceed in a singular direction, we must adopt an oscillating flow that carries us above and below the obstructions of time and proportion in a rhythmic, timely procedure, thinking becomes a wave reaching a maximum point external to the holographic illusion, a plane where all is visible, all the connections deciphered, all the meanings realized, this unifying truth will be accomplished when we exist in a number of places at once.

A maze devoid of walls will still possess the innate quality of being disorientative, however the cause for such sensation is neither that of walls nor of intertwining paths, it is of the vertical elevation, the observer maintains visibility of the entire spatial configuration of the maze evidently being everywhere at once, the quest therefore changes, from a means to an end to a means that justify the end.

This is the process that takes place when a curious observer begins to unravel a natural phenomenon, the museum imitates the process of uncovering scientific truths, to allow the visitor to fully comprehend its contents, the elevated inconsistent platforms provide an organized stream of knowledge, relevant to the classifications of each scientific discipline, the intertwining ramps allow the observer time to absorb former knowledge and contemplate the panoramic perspective of the facts of life viewed as a whole, thus constructing for lack of a better word - a spatial taxonomy of science.

Contrary to popular belief, Martyrs’ Square is in fact a space that provokes segregation rather than unity of purpose, the project examines the visual, functional and historical characteristics of Tripoli’s central built environment and its effect on different social classes and ages, the impact of an environment that was neither built by Libyans nor used by them until later. Familiarity to foreign bodies breeds mental and emotional detachment, and to respond to such indifference, a disturbance to the monotonic built fabric was necessary, by implant ing an element of shock, the proposed architecture embodied design typologies that entirely contradicts and opposes the context in question which in turn contributes to spark a consistent curiosity within the city’s different social classes and age groups. The concept was developed into a science museum that unifies a purpose guided by knowledge seeking.

Internally, the museum provides an interactive experience between the user and the information being presented through an open space and mounted platforms connected by intertwining pathways that guide the progression of the museum’s discourse.

Bourj Hammoud as a Destination

Tactical Activation of Bourj Hammoud’s Urban Fabric through the Grid

Academic | Urban Planning Studio Spring 2022

Location: Tripoli, Libya

Instructors : Dr Serge Yazidi, Dr. Karim Moussawer

Prepared By: Razan F. Elmrayed

A homogenized immigrant space

Bourj Hammoud posses a transitional character, the entire region has become an infrastructural zone that pedestrians and vehicles use as means to an end. The project sought to identify the unique experience of Bourj Hammoud through its history, morphology, and its subsequent densification. It captures Bourj Hammoud’s early urban development from a homogeneous urban fabric to its gradual decline into a center of uncontrolled urban densification. In so doing, the project implemented the grid system to activate its existing vital commercial character.

Bourj Hammoud grew in three phases led by the provision of land in the agricultural field of Bourj Hammoud, to later become a center for commerce and local craft production, untill 1974 when other natitinalities immigrated to the area in search for affordablig living provided the housing market, and low cost goods being sold in the adjacent shops.

The homogenized grid structure was established based on the fair distribution of land and supported by the flat land of bourj hammoud, the area was organized by a grid of streets with small plots of 50-150sqm in between them, the uniform grid pattern was influenced by the need for an equal distribution of state wealth to the armenians. The grid system culminated into a somewhat rectangular block with an average area of 4000 sqm, The consistency, orientation and the area of the grid decreases farther away from the shoreline due to the existence of topographic terrains surrounding Marach and down to Nabaa region.

Commerce is considered a vital component to Bourj Hammoud’s historical growth, the built fabric and the distribution of the shops along the streets of Bourj Hammoud convey dynamic centers of commerce that overlap with the intense vehicular activities occurring within the grid system. These centers of commerce relate to one another through the the distribution of the shops along the secondary streets of the grid system forming different cores and interlinked by a central diagonal core.

Regulated grid system for the the fair distribution of land

Vertical expansion among Armenians due to a sustenance in livelihoods through commerce

Densification through housing infill resulting in a linear grid system due to immigrant flows

Conceptualizing Bourj Hammoud

Inconsistent Grid Hierarchy